NCHSAA 4A State Meet Preview

Jason Creasy

Girls NCHSAA 4A Preview

Athletes to Watch

Tamara Clark (High Point Central) is your defending 100/200 outdoor champ and will look to defend her title, she sits NC #1 in the 200 and NC #3 in the 100.  Nevada Mareno (Leesville Road) will contend to sweep the three distance events, as well as help lead her team to a 4x800 title.  She currently is the state leader in the 1600 and 3200 and 2nd in the 800 behind teammate G'Jasmyne Butler.  Khayla Dawson (Olympic) is the state leader in both the Shot Put and Discus.  She is a reigning state champion and all-american in the Shot Put.  Kenya Livingston has dominated the High Jump all season and has jumped 5-10 earlier in this season and also has went undefeated so far in her sophomore campaign.  


Events to Watch

The 1600 is one of the strongest fields I can remember with 4 girls under 5:00s last weekend! Nevada Mareno (Leesville Road), will be tough to beat, but Blair Ramsey (Grimsley) and Elly Henes will not go down without a fight.  Ramsey was the champion two years ago and Henes is looking to defend from last season.  Sara Platek tends to favor the 3200, but she also was sub 5 at her regional.  

Last year the girls 100 was the strongest field of the day and it looks to be a similar story this year.  9 girls enter with sub 12 second times from last weekend.  The field is headlined by Charminiqu Hackney (SE Raleigh), Lauren White (Rolesville) and Tamara Clark (HP Central).  White had a pretty big PR at the regional last weekend of 11.46 and she is looking to snag a sprint title in her senior season.  

The 400 will be a battle between the senior and defending champ McKinley McNiell (Parkland) and the freshman Kyna Robinson and her strong SE Raleigh teammates Asya Macon and Kleo Torres.  McNeill and Robinson both came in under 55 seconds last weekend and will be the two headliners of a really strong field.  

The 4x400 will be a very tight race between SE Raleigh, Parkland, and new state leader High Point Central.  The Bison ran 3:46.99 last weekend and SE Raleigh 3:47.59.  It may be the last event of the day but it has the potential to be the best race of the evening.  

The Triple Jump has six girls all within 6 inches of each other based on last weekends results.  Michelle Cobb (TC Roberson) enters with the best jump of  38-8, but she will be challenged by Autumn James (New Hanover), Kayla Nesbitt-McEwen (High Point Central) and Cecilia Marenick (SW Guilford) in what should be a very close event.


Teams to Watch

Southeast Raleigh, what more do you need to say there?  They dominate the sprint events with three girls qualifying in multiple events.  They'll look to sweep the 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4 and should score highly in the 4x8. If Southeast Raleigh is to slip up then Leesville Road and High Point Central could step into the gap.  Leesville will score a lot of their points from their distance stars Nevada Mareno and G'Jasmyne Butler and also from their strong relay squads and a strong hurdler in Shellbi Chapman.  Slightly opposite to High Point Central, who will hope to pull a lot of points from Tamara Clark and their relays, as well as LJ/HJ star Kayla Nesbitt-McEwen.

 

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